MACON -- A Lilburn man accused of dismembering a Mercer University law school graduate is scheduled to go to trial later this year.

Stephen McDaniel will go to trial on Sept. 9 after he was arrested in June, 2011, following the death of 27-year-old Lauren Giddings of Maryland, his neighbor and classmate at Mercer, according to The Macon Telegraph. Giddings' torso was found in a trash bin near her apartment and police have not recovered the rest of her remains.

The Telegraph reported on Monday that Bibb County District Attorney David Cooke said last week that he would not seek the death penalty against McDaniel, and eliminating capital punishment from the case could move it to trial faster.

The victim's mother told the newspaper that she objected to McDaniel being sentenced to death on a religious basis.